In The Life Of A Winchester
by Caz Malfoy
Summary: Daily scenes depicting the life of a Winchester.
1. Sunday

**Title**: In The Life Of A Winchester  
**Fandom: **Supernatural/Dark Angel  
**Chapter: **1/?  
**Pairing: **Dean Winchester/Castiel Novak  
**Characters: **Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Alec/X5-494, Ben/X5-493  
**Note: **This is an alternate universe where the Supernatural doesn't exist and the Dark Angel world never happened.  
**Warning: **Mention of past parental death in future chapters. 

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Dean was going crazy; he just knew it. He was slowly losing his mind and was pretty certain his family were going to be the ones responsible for sending him to the lunatic asylum to be locked in the basement with all the really crazy freaks.

After the fourth repetition, he couldn't take it anymore and bellowed, "For the love of all that is holy, would you two shut up?"

Immediately the bickering voices fell silent and Dean let out a sigh of relief when he could hear himself think. Not that he wanted to be thinking; it was too early in the morning for that. Especially when Sunday was the only day no-one had to be anywhere at the crack of dawn and Dean could get a bit of a lie in.

Usually that lie in was interrupted by someone climbing onto his bed to watch a movie, but he didn't really mind that kind of rude awakening. It would always be more favourable than the bickering.

Five minutes after being roughly forced into the land of the living, Dean's door creaked open and he pressed his eyes shut in the vain hope that if he pretended to be asleep he'd be left alone.

"He's asleep!" he heard in the loudest whisper known to mankind.

"Don't be stupid! He just shouted at us; you can't do that in your sleep," was the snapped reply and Dean had to fight to stop a smirk from appearing on his face. It really was like listening to a younger version of himself sometimes.

His guise of still being asleep was ruined when he felt the other two scramble onto the bed, one of them climbing over Dean to sit on the other side.

"Jesus, you're heavy," Dean grumbled, pushing the offending body off of him and rolling onto his back. "Why are you two in here so early?" he demanded.

The two intruders tried to plaster innocent looks on their faces, but Dean knew them too well to fall for it. He had learnt a long time ago it wasn't a good idea to let his guard down around the pair of them.

"You can't sleep through movie morning!" Ben, the eldest of the twins, exclaimed, finally giving up the pretence.

Dean didn't even bother to cover his yawn. "There's a perfectly good plasma downstairs," he grumbled.

Alec shrugged his shoulders. "Yours is bigger," he muttered.

Knowing it was pointless to argue about them letting him sleep for longer, Dean silently rolled his eyes. "Let me get up," he instructed when he realised he couldn't move the covers because of his almost fifteen-year-old brothers.

Obligingly, Ben moved to the side while Alec merely ignored Dean and set about getting comfortable. Chuckling to himself, Dean climbed off the bed and crossed the room. Grabbing the remote from where it was sitting on his dresser, he tossed it at Ben and glared at Alec when he tried to catch it. "You chose last week," he reminded the younger of the twins, earning him a glare in response.

Leaving them to argue over what movie to watch, Dean slipped into the bathroom. After quickly taking care of business and brushing his teeth, he returned to the bedroom with a grin on his face. He had to admit, even if it was to himself, he loved spending Sunday mornings watching a movie in bed with his family. After spending almost every Sunday for the past fourteen years watching movies, Dean couldn't imagine spending his time any other way, and he had even rearranged his plans if they threatened to intrude on their time.

When he got back to his room, he wasn't surprised to see that Alec and Ben had been joined by Sam. Neither was he surprised to hear that they were already arguing about what to watch.

"If you three don't quit arguing, I'm going to put some crappy Jennifer Lopez movie on," Dean threatened, pushing Sam out of his spot and climbing back under the covers.

Sam, the thirteen year old giant that he was, snorted and shook his head. "Yeah, right," he scoffed. "You don't even like chick flicks."

Dean's eyes narrowed. "Wanna test me?"

Snatching the remote from where it had been stolen by Alec, Ben let out a triumphant yell and immediately began sifting through the movies Dean had downloaded, finally settling on a thriller they would all like.

Leaning back against the pillows and momentarily closing his eyes, Dean couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.

Spending the day curled up under the covers with his younger brothers at thirty-five might not have been how Dean had ever imagined he would spend his life, but listening to Alec and Sam provide a running commentary of the movie, Dean knew he wouldn't swap his life for anything.


	2. Monday

Mondays always came around far too quick for Dean's liking.

6am found Dean, freshly showered, his tie loosely hanging around his neck and shirt sleeves unfastened as he danced around the kitchen to AC/DC making three packed lunches for himself and his brothers. Ben was going through a phase of wanting salads instead of sandwiches, and even though it was annoying as hell, Dean liked to think he was an awesome big brother by humouring the teenager.

As usual Sam was the first up, looking far too awake for such an ungodly hour. He was quickly followed by a bleary eyed Ben who was managing to effectively rub sleep out of both eyes without bumping into anything. A skill in anyone's books, Dean thought.

His middle brother was nowhere to be found. Not that Dean was surprised at all.

At seven thirty, Ben glanced at the clock and looked over at Dean expectantly.

Dean paused mid-shovelling a spoonful of cereal into his mouth and shifted uncomfortably. "What?" he mumbled.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Al has school today as well, De," he pointed out.

"Why'dIhavet'd'it?" Dean retorted, earning himself a glare from Sam for speaking with his mouth full. Swallowing painfully to appease the teenager, Dean repeated in a whine, "Why'd I have to do it?"

Sam laughed. "Because to some people you're the responsible adult in this situation."

Dean's eyes narrowed in a glare and he dropped his spoon back into the bowl with a clatter. "Shut up and finish your breakfast," he instructed, pushing himself away from the counter. "Bitch."

Just before he disappeared out of the room he heard Sam retort, "Jerk."

Alec's room was at the top of the stairs, directly opposite Ben's and - big surprise - the door was still closed and there was no sound coming from the other side. "Alec!" he yelled, banging his fist on the white painted wood.

When he received nothing in response, he growled and continued pounding on the door. "Kid, I swear if you don't get your lazy ass out of bed, I'm going to tie you to the Impala and drag you to school in your pyjamas!"

Even the threat didn't work and Dean sighed heavily, stopping his pointless knocking. He reached for the handle before hesitating. He'd learnt very quickly that it wasn't a good idea to walk into his teenage brother's bedroom without being invited.

Mentally preparing himself to see something which would scar him for the rest of his life, Dean turned the handle and pushed the door open.

Alec was almost completely buried underneath the covers. The only part of him which was visible were his bare feet.

"I swear," Dean grumbled as he crossed the room. "After all these years of school, surely you'd be used to getting up by now!"

Without even thinking twice, Dean leant down, curled his fingers around Alec's ankles and pulled.

"HEY!" Alec yelled when he was roughly pulled almost two feet down his bed. "Was that really necessary?" he grumbled, kicking himself free from Dean's grip and running a hand over his face. "What time is it?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Almost seven-thirty," he answered. "Congratulations, you've missed breakfast so you have exactly twelve minutes to get dressed or else you'll be walking to school."

Alec's complaints followed Dean out of the room and all the way down the stairs.

Ben, Sam and Dean were already in the car when Alec stumbled out of the house eleven minutes later, still tucking his white shirt into his slacks with his hair sticking out in every direction imaginable.

"Hey, watch the paint work!" Dean exclaimed when Alec practically fell into the back seat of the Impala beside Sam, having lost out to Ben for the right to ride shotgun.

When they got to the school, Dean waited until Alec was halfway toward the building before calling his name.

"Catch," he instructed, throwing something at the teenager without another word of warning.

Reacting as quick as always, Alec caught the item and grinned when he realised what Dean had just given him. A cereal bar to make up for the breakfast he had missed. "You're the best!" he explained, tearing into the bar and groaning so loud Dean heard it despite the distance.

He turned on his heel and headed toward the school without another word, still munching away on the breakfast Dean had provided.

"Love you too, kid," Dean chuckled, shaking his head in amusement as he climbed into the Impala ready to head to work.


	3. Tuesday

If Dean had to pick one particular day to hate he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would chose the third Tuesday of the month.

Those Tuesdays were where he was forced to drive from their house in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Omaha, Nebraska for a stinking meeting with people he didn't like, and whose policies he didn't agree with.

It wasn't the almost-six-hour round trip that pissed Dean off (although it did grate on his nerves that his superiors insisted on the meetings being face to face rather than via telephone conference). He had good music and an audio book he'd downloaded for Ben, which was surprisingly good, to keep him company.

No, what pissed him off the most about making the long-ass journey was the fact that he couldn't take his brothers to school.

He'd been taxi-ing the youngest three Winchester's around since Ben and Alec's first day of kindergarten; leaving the house when the others were still fast asleep in bed every other Tuesday was heart wrenching.

Not that Dean would ever admit the truth to anyone.

At seven-fifteen, Dean was a little over an hour away from his destination and stuck in the usual unmoving traffic. Pausing the audio book mid-word, Dean fished his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and dialled Alec.

He wasn't surprised when it wasn't answered. It generally took at least three attempts to rouse the teenager with a phone call. Cancelling the connection, he redialled only to receive the same response.

"Fuckin' lazy kid," he muttered to himself, redialling for a third time and slowly easing the car forward two feet before coming to a stop once more.

"Wha?" Alec greeted him when the call was connected.

Dean chuckled. "Rise and shine, princess. This is your Tuesday morning wake up call," he called cheerfully.

"Piss off," Alec muttered, earning him a tut from Dean but no real reprimand. "Why'd school have to start so early?" he asked through a yawn.

"Solely to annoy the hell out of you, I'm sure," Dean retorted, suppressing a yawn of his own before taking a drink from the takeaway coffee he had bought at the drive-thru to keep himself awake. "You better not still be in bed when I get home, Al," he cautioned.

On the other end of the line he heard Alec huff in annoyance and heard the covers being thrown back. "Fine, I'm up," Alec grumbled and Dean had to laugh when he heard him stumbling around his room. "Happy now?"

"Ecstatic," Dean replied. He wished his brother a good day at school, before cancelling the call and leaving Alec to get ready in peace.

Dean didn't even know what time it was when he got home. It was dark, but that didn't really mean much since it was the middle of January and always dark.

Pushing the door open and stumbling through, Dean was greeted by the sight of Ben sitting on the large corner couch, his green eyes glued to the plasma screen mounted on the wall. His other brothers were nowhere in sight.

Dean felt a moment of panic, before he remembered that Alec had soccer practice and Sam had book club on Tuesdays. Ben was the only one who didn't have somewhere better to be.

"Hey kid," Dean greeted, ruffling the teenager's hair with his hand as he passed.

Pausing the television, Ben turned in his seat and rested his chin on the back of the couch as he watched Dean dump his bag on the breakfast bar. "I ordered us food," he informed him.

Raising an eyebrow, Dean turned to look at Ben with a surprised look on his face. "How did you know when I'd be back?" he asked, grimacing when his stomach growled at the mention of food. He hadn't been able to get anything to eat since just after noon, so Ben's thoughtful pre-emptive ordering was definitely appreciated.

Ben smirked in a manner that was far too similar to Dean for it not to be weird. "I hacked into your cell account and tracked your GPS."

"That's a little creepy, dude," Dean replied, before frowning. "How did you even get into the account?"

The teenager rolled his eyes. "Your password is Mom's birthday, De. It's not exactly difficult."

A blush crept over Dean's skin. "Shut up," he mumbled, slumping onto the couch next to Ben. Closing his eyes, he told himself he was only resting them for a second.

He was asleep before the food even arrived.


	4. Wednesday

Wednesdays were the days Dean loved the best. After dropping his brothers off at school, he headed to the Sandover building, worked his usual four hour shift as a manager before clocking out and heading over to spend the rest of his day at Singer Salvage and Auto Repairs.

Bobby Singer had been a friend of John and Mary Winchester for as long as Dean could remember. Together with John, he had taught Dean everything he knew about restoring cars. After his parents had died, Bobby had been one of the few people who had been able to keep Dean sane.

He was also one hell of a grumpy bastard.

"Boy, you're taking up space I could be usin' for paying customers!"

Underneath the chassis of the blue mustang, Dean grinned and bit back a laugh before sliding out and squinting up at Bobby. The older man had his arms folded across his chest and was scowling down at him from underneath a beat up truckers hat.

"I did offer to pay you," Dean pointed out, getting to his feet and moving over to the workbench, dropping the wrench into the tool box.

Bobby scowled even deeper. "Don't insult me, Winchester," he snapped, the twinkle in his eye revealing how he really felt. "I'm just pissed I didn't realise these eyesores are gonna be on my property 'til July."

Dean chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Hey, it's the twins' fault for not being born sooner."

A few months ago, he and Bobby had trawled through the cars in the yard looking for the perfect ones for Ben and Alec. The car itself was Bobby's contribution, whereas Dean's contribution was fixing up the Mustang for Ben, who barely knew how to lift the hood on a car never mind how to fix one up.

He just didn't know what he was going to do for Alec. The younger of the twins was a miniature version of Dean through and through. He had inherited his big brother's adoration for restoring cars, and usually spent his Saturday mornings right beside Dean at the yard.

Which was why Dean had to find something to get Alec. He wasn't going to spoil a perfectly acceptable present by fixing the black 1967 Camaro himself.

Bobby was just going to have to deal with having the car around for a bit longer. Dean just hadn't told him that, yet.

"When are you going to start digging a car out for the Giant?" Bobby asked, leaning over and inspecting the engine. Dean shrugged his shoulders, wiping his hands on a rag and Bobby sighed. "You better make your mind up soon, boy. That kid'll be fifteen too before you know it."

Dean groaned. "Don't remind me," he grumbled, running a hand over his face. "When did they grow up so much?" he whined, looking up at Bobby with wide green eyes, silently begging him to tell him his brothers weren't as old as he thought.

"Hell if I know," Bobby retorted with a snort. "Last I checked, _you _were the fifteen year old helping John fix up the Impala."

Instead of making Dean smile like Bobby had clearly intended, the comment about John made him pause and look down at his hands silently, thoughts racing around inside his head at warp speed.

Before he could dwell on the thoughts too long, Bobby laid a hand on his shoulder and turned him around. "Don't start with those thoughts, Dean," he ordered. "Those boys are amazing and it's all because of you."

Dean flushed and tried to argue that he'd had help from Bobby, but the other man wouldn't let him get in the words.

"Don't try arguing with me. For the past fourteen years you've been raising them and, ignoring Alec's sass mouth, they're amazing kids. Your daddy would be proud."

"I know I am."


	5. Thursday

8am Thursday morning ruined the good mood Dean had been in since the day before.

Everything had been going fine, until the Impala pulled up to the school building. Leaning on the bicycle stands was a strict faced man, wearing a black suit jacket and a blue tie which Dean absolutely _didn't _notice matched his eyes perfectly.

His attire, mingled with Alec's immediate reaction to slouch further down in his seat, not who his brother wanted to see, told Dean this person could only be one thing.

A teacher.

"Jesus, Al," Dean muttered pulling up to the kerb and shutting off the engine. "What did you do now?"

"Technically it's more a question of what he _didn't _do," Ben chimed in from the back seat, earning himself a glare from his twin brother, which he ignored and clambered out of the car. He yelled a quick goodbye to Dean before grabbing hold of Sam's arm and dragging the younger teenager away.

"Morning, Mr Novak," Alec greeted warily, getting out of the car, with Dean following suit.

The teacher folded his arms across his chest and nodded in greeting. "Should I be expecting you in home room this morning, Mr Winchester?"

On opposite side of the car, Dean growled and Alec visibly winced. Before Dean could say anything, Alec answered, "Yes, Sir. I'll be there."

"Damn right, you will," Dean snapped. "Just like you'll be at home all weekend."

Alec's eyes widened as he glared at his older brother. "What?" he exclaimed. "Oh, come on, Dean!" he whined.

The eldest Winchester shook his head, remaining firm on his decision. He knew there wasn't much Alec was bothered about not doing, so taking his cell phone or computer away wouldn't be too much of a punishment.

Stopping him from spending Saturday at the yard with Bobby? That was something Dean knew would make Alec think twice about skipping class again.

"If you didn't want to be punished, you should have thought twice about skipping," Dean retorted. "Get to class," he snapped.

Almost jumping to attention, Alec grabbed his backpack from the car and practically ran toward the school building.

Watching him go, Dean sighed heavily. As far as he knew, Alec had never skipped a lesson before now; Dean liked to think he'd made it very clear he wouldn't put up with his brothers having the same reputation he'd had at school – some days it had been a miracle if he had even attended one class.

There had to be something going on to make Alec do something he knew would get him in trouble.

Reaching into his pocket, Dean pulled a Sandover-provided business card from his wallet. "Has he done this often?" he asked.

The teacher blinked and seemed to shake himself out of his thoughts before focusing on Dean. "Never," he answered. "Normally I wouldn't personally wait for a pupil, but…" His cheeks flushed, which absolutely did not look adorable. "Alec's one of my best students. I wanted to make sure this wasn't going to become a regular occurrence."

Dean felt a rush of pride as he listened to the teacher say how good a student Alec was, before he quashed it when he remembered he was still mad at his brother. "Well, not working on cars this weekend will probably make him regret skipping." He held the business card out to the teacher. "But, if he doesn't turn up again, please text me and let me know, Mr…" he trailed off, trying to not flush with embarrassment when he realised he couldn't remember the other man's name.

Slowly taking the card from Dean, the teacher ran his index finger over the writing before answering, "Novak. Castiel Novak."

"Dean," he replied, holding his hand out to Castiel, trying to not gasp at the spark of electricity that passed between them as their skin touched.


	6. Friday

When lunchtime on Friday rolled around, Dean had never been more grateful to have his own office. It wasn't much to look at; just a room in the corner with 'Dean Smith-Winchester' on the door (no one could quite work out how the Smith part had been engraved on the metal. Personally Dean was sure it was a practical joke by Gabe in HR), but it was Dean's and he loved it.

Company policy hadn't allowed him to make it as unique to him as he'd liked, but he'd managed to slip a photo of his brothers that had been taken a few years ago onto his desk.

His blackberry beeped for the third time in half an hour and Dean couldn't help looking around guiltily, even though there was no one around to see. He'd been sending text messages on and off all day, and knew if he didn't have his own office he would have been caught several times.

Quickly spell checking the email he'd been typing, Dean clicked send and grabbed his Sandover-provided cell, already knowing who the message was from.

_He's still doing it._

Rolling his eyes, Dean clicked reply and quickly tapped out. **Not my problem! Kid needs to learn to take it like a man.**

A reply didn't come through immediately, but Dean hadn't expected it to. He wasn't the only one with a job, after all.

When he'd handed over his number, he hadn't meant to spend all day having an SMS-conversation with his brother's teacher. But when Castiel (he'd stopped being Mr Novak after the first hour or so) had texted to let him know that Alec had arrived in class safe and sound.

The conversation should have ended there, but for some reason Dean couldn't quite work out they'd managed to end up talking about everything ranging from the weather to movies.

_Seriously. You should see him; he looks like a kicked puppy._

Dean sighed heavily and hung his head. He was fighting a losing battle; he just knew it. Castiel had tried to convince him that Alec was obviously regretting his decision to skip the day before, and that punishing him on Saturday wouldn't be necessary, but Dean refused to hear any of it.

He couldn't afford to go back on a punishment once it had been issued. With three teenage brothers, doing that was just asking for trouble.

**Whose side are you on? It was your class he skipped; I thought you'd be happy to see him in trouble.**

Castiel's reply came through almost immediately. _Please?_

In the end it was that one word which did it for Dean. He sighed heavily, fired off another email before grabbing the blackberry and typing out a reply, jabbing his fingers slightly harder against the keys than was necessary.

**Fine. You owe me big time, Novak.**

x

To say Alec looked surprised when he saw Dean was waiting for him after school would have been an understatement. Normally his brother's made their own way home on Friday afternoons while Dean worked at Bobby's, helping out where he could.

"Checking up on me?" Alec asked grumpily, warily approaching the impala.

Dean gritted his teeth in an effort to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Picking you up," he corrected, pulling the keys out of his pocket. "Are you gettin' in the car, or not?"

Shrugging his shoulders with an air of nonchalance that Dean _knew _was faked, Alec replied, "I suppose it beats walking."

This time Dean didn't even stop himself trying to roll his eyes. "Catch!" he instructed, tossing the keys at the teenager without another word of warning.

Alec's eyes widened and he caught them out of reflex more than anything else. "What the... Are you serious?"

"Crash her and you're dead," Dean warned, opening the door and sliding into the passenger seat. "You remember the way to Ellen's, right?"

A grin spread across Alec's face and he nodded his head, happily sliding the key into the ignition and starting the engine.

_Ellen's _was officially known as The Roadhouse, but anyone local to the area would always tell you it was _Ellen's _once before and it always would be.

It was also the Winchester boys' unofficial second home.

"Only two of you?" were the first words out of Ellen's mouth.

Dean grinned. "The best two!" he exclaimed to which Alec nodded in agreement.

Ellen snorted and rolled her eyes. "Whatever you have to tell yourself, boy. Jo!" she shouted through to the kitchen. "Fix Dean and Alec's usual."

The lack of hesitation as she determined which twin was standing in front of her made Dean's heart constrict and he was reminded of one of the reasons why he loved Ellen Harvelle. There were very few people who could tell the difference between his identical twin brothers. Ellen instinctively knowing which was who Alec was showed how much she cared more than anything else.

On the way to their usual table, Dean's iPhone buzzed where it was in his pocket and he pulled it out, grinning to himself when he saw that the new message was from Castiel (who was now referred to as Cas in his contacts). He had given the teacher his personal cell phone before leaving work and turning the blackberry off for the weekend; even though he had no idea why he'd done it.

_You picked him up?_

Dean rolled his eyes and quickly typed out of a reply. **Yes, boss. I even let him drive. Happy now?**

_Very. I'll take you out to dinner tomorrow to make it up to you?_

Dean paused mid-step and felt his breath catch. He… Could Castiel seriously be suggesting what he was thinking. Before he'd even realised what he was doing, Dean's fingers typed a quick reply.

**Pick me up at 8?**

"What are you grinning at?" Alec's voice asked, snapping Dean out of his gaze and he looked up to see his brother already sitting at their table.

Shaking his head, Dean shoved the cell into his pocket. "Nothin'," he muttered, sitting down opposite his brother.

They were silent for all of two minutes before Dean couldn't take it anymore and blurted, "Why'd you do it, Al?"

Alec sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't planning on skipping," he answered honestly. "I just didn't feel like going, that's all." Dean's eyes narrowed and Alec held up his hands, palms out. "Seriously, there's nothing more nefarious going on. I swear."

Snorting at his brother's use of the word nefarious, Dean shrugged out of his jacket and unfastened his cufflinks. "Cas has been complaining about how upset you've been looking all day," he commented without thinking, too focused on the task of rolling his shirtsleeves to his elbows, revealling his tattoo sleeves.

Across the table, Alec raised an eyebrow in an eerily good impression of Dean. "Cas?" he repeated, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "As is Castiel. _Mr _Novak?"

Dean tugged at his collar, suddenly feeling like he couldn't breathe and he could swear his cheeks were getting hotter.

"Shut up," he muttered, trying to ignore his cell phone buzzing with Castiel's response.


	7. Saturday Part 1

Alec and Sam were sitting expectantly at the breakfast bar when Dean woke up on Saturday morning.

"Finally!" Alec exclaimed, seeing that his older brother was awake. "We were dying of starvation here!"

Dean rolled his eyes and yawned widely. "You're more than capable of fixing your own breakfast," he muttered, running a hand through his already messed up hair.

Despite his words, he still crossed to the refrigerator and pulled the door open. A quick survey of the contents made him wince and realise that after Castiel's insistence he cheer Alec up, he'd forgotten to go the market the day before.

Grabbing the milk, he sniffed at the liquid inside the bottle and almost threw up at the smell.

Behind him, he heard a scoff from Sam and Alec piped up with, "Looks like breakfast is out of the picture, Sammy."

Throwing a glare over his shoulder, Dean moved to pour the disgusting milk down the drain. "Guess I'm going shopping," he muttered, dropping the carton into the trash and turning back around to face his brothers. "Just what I wanted to spend my Saturday morning doing," he added sarcastically.

To his surprise both Sam and Alec got to their feet – almost in perfection unison. "What are you doing?" Dean asked suspiciously. They couldn't be planning on coming with him; Alec _hated _supermarkets and Sam always complained about what Dean got. Shopping with the Winchesters usually ended up with an argument.

"Someone has to keep an eye on you," Alec replied over his shoulder as the pair of them headed up the stairs. "God knows what you'd end up getting otherwise."

Halfway around the market Dean was starting to wish he'd left them both locked in the car. Or, that they'd stuck to their usual Saturday routines. Ben was at band practice (a real band, with a guitarist, singer and everything), which left Alec usually heading to Bobby's with Dean while Sam enjoyed the peace and quiet at home.

Listening to Alec and Sam bickering over which kind of cereal they were going to get, was enough to drive Dean insane.

"Just get both," he snapped, grabbing a pack of pop tarts and dropping them into the cart.

The teenagers paused and turned to Dean, surprise written all over their faces. Dean knew what was running through their minds; usually they were forced to compromise on one brand only. Dean wasn't exactly strapped for cash, but he was nowhere near loaded enough to shop without a budget.

Ignoring their shocked looks, Dean grabbed a box of each cereal they were arguing over (as well as a box of Ben's favourite) and dumped them in the cart too.

"Come on," he instructed, marking cereal off his mental list and continuing through the market.

He didn't need to look back to know the others were following him; he could hear them continuing the conversation they'd been having prior to the cereal incident.

"I can't believe she got one," Sam commented. "A tribal mark at the bottom of her spine? Could she be any more trashy?"

Dean had no idea who they were talking about, but it was funny as hell listening to the teens gossiping like girls.

"I'm gonna get a tattoo," Alec announced. "Not there, obviously," he added with a snort.

Dean didn't even pause as he laughed and rolled his eyes. "No you're not," he called back over his shoulder, turning into the bread isle.

Stepping up to the side of him, Alec raised an eyebrow. "It would be a bit hypocritical of you to not let me, De," he pointed out, tugging on the sleeve of Dean's jacket which was covering up his own tattoos.

Dean elbowed Alec in the ribs. "I don't care if you wanna get a tat. But you're not getting one at fifteen."

Sam laughed. "Have you forgotten how much you brag about getting your first at fifteen?" he asked, earning himself a glare from his big brother.

"That's different," Dean muttered through clenched teeth. "I only did it to piss my dad off."

The younger siblings shared an amused glance before Alec looked back at Dean. "Who said I didn't want to piss mine off?" he asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

It wasn't the first time Dean had almost forgotten that they all had the same father, nor was it the first time Alec had referred to Dean as his dad, but the rush of affection he felt was still enough to make Dean's breath catch in his throat.

Coughing lightly, he changed the subject back to what Alec had originally said. "You're not getting a tattoo from anyone other than Charlie, and she's not going to do one when you're under age."

Charlie was Dean's best friend and had been tattooing him for years. The only tattoo he had that wasn't her handy work was the pentagram on his forearm, which had been his first one. Every time she saw it, she begged him to let her re-do it, but he refused every time. It reminded him of his dad and he couldn't bring himself to regret it.

"I can't afford Charlie!" Alec protested.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Who said anything about you paying her?" he asked. They were silent for a moment, before he bargained, "If you still want one when you're eighteen, we'll drive up to the city and _I'll _pay for it."

Alec's eyes lit up, and he and Sam shared a look which gave Dean the strangest feeling he'd walked straight into a trap. Oh well, no way to back out now. "What are you planning on getting?"

The look on Alec's face as he shrugged his shoulders suggested he hadn't thought that far ahead.

"Well you better get to thinking," Dean instructed. "You're not getting anything unless you're a 100% certain."

At the checkout, Dean smirked and looked over at Alec as they emptied the cart. "Hey, you should get a barcode on the back of your neck. It'd make keeping track of you easier."

6pm saw Dean freshly showered, standing in the middle of his bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist as he freaked out.

Grabbing his cell phone from the dresser, Dean speed dialled Charlie.

"Help!" he begged as soon as the call had connected.

His red-headed nerd of a best friend laughed. "Isn't it a bit too late to be having a big-gay freak out?"

Dean's narrowed his eyes even though he couldn't see her. "I'm not having a freak out," he mumbled. "I'm just… Panicking a little."

Charlie snorted and Dean could picture her rolling her eyes. "Fine. Lay it on me, Winchester. How can the Queen fix your problem?"

"I have no idea what to wear!" Dean whined, eyeballing his closet with suspicion.

She laughed again but otherwise didn't mock him. Instead, Charlie asked, "Where's lover boy taking you?"

Instead of protesting that Castiel wasn't his 'lover boy', Dean shrugged. "I have no idea."

Charlie audibly clicked her tongue and Dean winced, waiting for the inevitable scolding she was going to give him. "You didn't think to ask?" She groaned. "Okay, fine, I can do this. Let's assume that a fancy restaurant on a first date would be too much. Put me on FaceTime."

Obligingly, Dean did as instructed and found his screen filled with Charlie's smirking face. "Jesus, Dean," she groaned. "You could have warned me you were naked!"

Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm not naked," he muttered. "Besides, it's not like you haven't seen my body before." She'd tattooed both his arms, his chest, back, thighs and calf; there was no way Dean could be shy about his body when it came to Charlie.

"Take me to your closet," Charlie chuckled.

Saluting, Dean headed over to the aforementioned closet and turned the phone around to show Charlie the contents.

"Definitely the black jeans," the tattooist decided immediately.

Trusting Charlie completely, Dean grabbed his classiest pair of black jeans and draped them on the bed. "I'm not going topless, Bradbury."

"Patience, young grasshopper," Charlie soothed. "What'd you know about Castiel?"

"He's a teacher," Dean answered confidently. But that was all he could provide, other than, "And he's good looking."

Charlie laughed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, so until we know how he feels about tats, long sleeved shirts are in. Best make it a black one."

Dean angled the phone so he could see Charlie's face better. "Won't that look like I'm going to a funeral rather than on a date?"

An exasperated sigh escaped Charlie's lips. "Did you call me to ask for my help, or to argue with me at every turn?" Dean mumbled his apology. "Now, unless you want to be late, you'd better get your ass in gear."

"And take me off FaceTime," she commanded. "No one wants to see that."


	8. Saturday Part 2

Castiel arrived to pick Dean up at 8.01 (not that Dean was watching the clock). Thankfully he didn't come to the door; something which would have resulted in an awkward conversation with his brothers who didn't know he was going on a date, never mind who he was going out with.

That was a conversation Dean wasn't ready to have yet.

The teacher was driving a silver 2013 Toyota Prius and Dean had to fight really hard to not turn his nose up as he got in the passenger seat.

He must not have not managed to keep his thoughts hidden because Castiel chuckled and rolled his eyes. "It's no Impala, but my car isn't _that _bad." He pouted and ran a hand soothingly over the dashboard.

Dean felt his cheeks flush with embarassment at being caught. "Yeah, for a modern POS," he muttered, only half joking.

Settling back in the seat, he glanced over at Castiel and let his eyes run over the other man, taking in his appearance. He was wearing black slacks and a black jacket, with a white shirt, black waistcoat and blue tie. An outfit which made Dean feel underdressed. He shifted uncomfortably, an action which caught Castiel's attention.

"Is there something wrong?"

Dean shook his head. "I have a feeling I'm not dressed up enough for where we're going," he murmured, running a hand over the front of his shirt.

Castiel glanced at him for a second before turning his attention back to the road. "You look perfect," he assured Dean, before his cheeks coloured adorably.

They were headed, it turned out, to a small diner-like establishment on the opposite side of town to where Dean lived. From the outside it looked just like every other diner on the side of the freeway, and Dean couldn't help the sinking feeling in his stomach as he realised that he might have been wrong after all.

This wasn't a date. Castiel really was just thanking him for cheering Alec up.

As soon as they stepped through the doors, Dean started doubting himself again. Despite all appearances to the contrary, the inside of the building was a restaurant, complete with maître de who was waiting for them with menus in hand and a brilliant smile on his face.

Castiel had made a reservation and they were ushered to a small table in the centre of the restaurant.

"Can I get you some drinks to start with?" the waiter asked, handing each of them a menu with a brilliant smile.

Dean returned the smile with one of his own. Drinks he could do. "I'll take a beer." Castiel nodded and informed him that he would have the same. Then they were left alone.

Castiel was the first to break the ice as he perused the menu. "How is Alec?"

"Annoying. Whiny. Cocky," Dean rattled off, before lifting his eyes from the menu and smirking at Castiel. "So, pretty much the same as he normally is. Seriously, I let him drive my car; believe me, he's over being punished."

The teacher chuckled. "Well, it is a nice car," he conceded with a tilt of his head.

Their waiter arrived with a plastered on smile and took their food order, before disappearing again.

"So," Dean began, running his fingers around the neck of his beer bottle, "you know more about my family than I do about yours. That doesn't seem right," he added with a pout, fluttering his eyelashes at the other man.

Castiel laughed and took a swig of his own drink. "Fair enough, I suppose," he conceded. "Well, unlike you I'm an only child. I do have more than enough cousins to make up for the lack of a sibling, and then some."

Dean snorted into his beer. "Trust me, having siblings can be overrated sometimes," he murmured, before he paused, mid-thought. "Wait, your last name's Novak. I presume Gabriel Novak is one of these many cousins?"

A wince appeared on Castiel's face. "Ah, I forgot your business card said Sandover. I feel like I should apologise for anything my cousin might have done."

Dean laughed and shook his head. "Nah, he's a cool guy," he answered. "A little on the crazy side, sure. But still pretty cool."

They spent the rest of the meal, chatting about whatever sprang to mind. When their plates were clear and their drinks had been finished, Castiel asked if Dean wanted pie.

Dean was pretty sure he fell in love right there and then.

The pie shop Cas had in mind was less than three blocks away, so Dean suggested they walk. It had nothing to do with the fact that he didn't want to get into that silver monstrosity; honest.

Stepping up to the counter, Cas perused the flavours on the board and frowned deeply. "Which flavour do you suggest?" he asked of the girl behind the counter.

Before she could answer, Dean stepped forward and placed a hand on Cas's shoulder. "I'll order the pie; you grab us a seat," he instructed, steering the teacher towards the booths. If there was one thing Dean prided himself on, it was being an expert on pie.

Cheekily, he ordered a slice of his own favourite and a spur of the moment choice, before paying and following Cas across the restaurant.

"Should I be worried about what I'm going to get?" Cas asked suspiciously, watching Dean slide into the booth opposite him.

Dean laughed and winked. "Yes. I've ordered you a disgusting flavour, just to see you squirm. You're okay with mud, right?"

The waitress arrived with two plates and set them down in front of Dean, just as he'd asked. When they were alone, Cas raised an eyebrow. Dean simply chuckled and picked up one of the two forks. "Close your eyes," he instructed, hovering the fork over the first piece.

"I'm not sure I know you well enough to trust you with my eyes closed," Cas said warily, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Green eyes rolled. "If you trust me for the next two mouthfuls, you can ask me whatever you want," he bargained. "Can't keep you in the dark about everything, after all."

Cas smiled shyly and obligingly closed his eyes. With a satisfied nod, Dean scooped up a piece of pie and held it front of Cas's mouth. "Open up." Cas did, and Dean slipped the fork inside.

When the burst of flavour exploded on Cas's tongue, he groaned and his eyes flickered open of their own accord. "Cherry," he whispered, chewing thoughtfully. "Delicious," he added, pink tongue flicking out to catch any stray bits at the corner of his mouth.

Trying to ignore the rush of heat which had fled south at that delectable sound, Dean moved to the second pie. "Have a drink and close your eyes again," he ordered, picking up the second fork. "Need to wash the cherry out of your mouth before you can taste this one, otherwise you won't get a good enough taste."

When Cas did as instructed and his gorgeous blue's flickered closed, Dean repeated the action with the second pie. The moan which followed the second taste wasn't as enthusiastic as the first, but it didn't help shift Dean's arousal.

"Blueberry," Cas stated, chewing thoughtfully. "And… I have no idea what else," he confessed, opening his eyes and blinking in the bright light of the diner.

Dean grinned. "Apple," he supplied helpfully. "I assume you don't like?"

Cas reached out and scooped some more filling up with his index finger. "It's not bad," he conceded, licking the digit in a way which made Dean certain he was doing on purpose. "But I prefer the cherry," he added, his eyes drifting over to the red filling longingly.

"Wouldn't want to deprive you," Dean laughed, sliding the cherry pie towards the teacher, before tucking into the apple and blueberry.

With more enthusiasm than Dean had seen for a while, Cas picked up the second fork and broke off a section. Before Dean knew what was happening, the piece was hovering in front of his mouth. "Wouldn't want to deprive you," Cas repeated his words back at him with a smirk.

Narrowing his eyes in mock irritation, Dean opened his mouth and curled his lips around the fork; all the while trying to ignore what else he wanted to curl his lips around.

"S' really good," Dean murmured, voice mumbled by the pie.

Cas grinned. "I _did _tell you." He shovelled a forkful into his own mouth. "You owe me details, Mr Winchester," he reminded, taking a sip of the water they'd been provided with.

Dean sighed and nodded his head. "You're wondering how come I've got custody of my brothers, right?" he ventured a guess. That was usually the first question everyone wanted answering if Dean let them get close enough to ask questions.

A sad smile appeared on Cas's face. "Well, that thought did cross my mind," he confessed. "But it's not what I was going to ask. I was wondering how come there's such a big age gap between you and the twins."

"Ah," Dean murmured. He wasn't surprised by that question either. It was usually the second thing he was asked. "When I was born my dad was still active in the Corps. We moved around a lot when I was a kid; bouncing from military base to military base. There wasn't much time for siblings."

They were silent for a moment as Dean tucked into more pie. "I was nineteen when Dad retired and less than a year later the twins were born; quickly followed by Sammy."

Dean took a drink of water, coughing a little as some went down his windpipe, before continuing, "Then when Sam was six months old, there was a fire in the nursery. We all got out, but mom and dad weren't so lucky." He didn't look up; the last thing he wanted to do was see the look of pity in Cas's eyes. He hadn't even wanted to tell him about the fire, but he couldn't stop himself from speaking once he'd started.

He started when Cas reached across the table and placed a hand over his. "What happened?" Cas whispered and Dean chanced to look up. There was no pity in those crystal blue eyes; only sadness.

"Electrical fault," Dean answered simply. Yeah, thinking about his parents made him sad; but he had long since gotten past the point where he couldn't talk about them without breaking down. "It was a new house and the contractor had cut corners. The insurance settlement was enough to buy a house in Sioux Falls and pay tuition for three to that fancy-ass school you teach at," he added, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smirk as he looked up at Cas.

Cas seemed to get the hint that Dean didn't want to carry on talking about his parents, because he laughed and offered Dean more of his pie. "Well, I'm glad you decided to send the boys there," he confessed. "Otherwise I'd have never realised how much I like pie."

Dean chuckled and placed his free hand over Cas's, which was still on his arm. He squeezed gently, trying to show how much he appreciated the silent support. "Well, lucky for you, we're just getting started. There's a whole heap of pies out there I need to introduce you to."


End file.
